Health care reform will change hospitals’ business models, according to a survey of human resource executives. The survey, performed by global professional services company Towers Watson, found that workforce issues, the need for a wider array of staff skills and new leadership models will rise in importance as the hospital industry grapples with the transformation [...] [...]
Hospitals and doctors are seeking greater commitments from each other as a way to gain economic security — but don’t call it a marriage yet. Newfound hospital and doctor commitments are likely to take several different forms — joint ventures, partnerships, employment — as the way health care is delivered changes nationwide, thanks to a [...] [...]
Hospital pay levels have steadily dropped during the past decade and now match the average pay for all workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Information from the bureau shows that the cost increases to hospitals for wages and salary growth were 5.7 percent higher than they were in the fourth quarter of [...] [...]
The nation’s hospitals will lose $142 million from Medicare cuts for the next fiscal year, a figure that represents about 0.1 percent of the hospital and acute-care budget for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The new reimbursement rate does not yet include hospital-related provisions of health care reform. CMS officials said they will [...] [...]
The Joint Commission has good news for the nation’s hospitals: They’re doing a better job. The nation’s hospitals have improved the quality of patient care every year for the past seven years, said The Joint Commission, the hospital accrediting body. The commission’s latest report provides evidence in improvements in patient care for heart attacks, heart [...] [...]
Nominal health spending in the United States grew 4.4 percent in 2008, to $2.3 trillion, or $7,861 a person, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The number is the lowest since CMS started tracking expenditures during 1960. However, health care spending continues to outpace overall economic growth, which grew by [...] [...]
The nation’s hospitals are on the clock to upgrade their information technology — and big brother is watching. “The government doesn’t just want to see hospitals using information technology — they want meaningful use of that technology as part of health care reform,” said Bill Luallen, a partner in the health care provider practice at [...] [...]
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